Location: Cleveland Qld Owner: Redland Shire Council Streetscape design: John Mongard Landscape Architects in association with Redland Shire Council Austral Bricks products: • Kirra, Burleigh and Miami clay pavers from the Paradise Series   NOVEMBER 2006

Redland Shire Council was rightly proud when its streetscape redevelopment won a Planning Institute award in 1991. As further stages have unfolded, the project has won two national awards and a further six state awards.

The Cleveland Art Walk proceeds down Bloomfield Street, darting into side streets, and progressing through Library Square to the Harbour Park overlooking Raby Bay.

Some of the Walk’s clay pavers have been in place for over 10 years. We asked Gary Soutar, Redland’s operations and maintenance group manager and the original project manager, how the pavement was withstanding the passage of time. “It has held up very nicely over the years. The council has started a progressive program of refurbishment but that’s more in the line of street furniture because the pavers don’t need it at this time.”

The three paver colours selected for the project are laid in a strong herringbone pattern. The colours wash down the streets in waves, reflecting the patterns of nearby Moreton Bay.

“We were looking for a paving product that had minimal size differences between the colours,”Gary Soutar explains. “Austral’s pavers met that criteria while conforming to all the Australian Standards we wanted.”

“The design has evolved but followed the basic design laid down in the late 1980s,” says Wayne Dawson, manager of Redland’s land use planning group. This was a collaborative design between John Mongard and the council’s team of planners, engineering designers and civil engineers.

“The streetscape redevelopment does more than create a pleasant environment for shopping and relaxation,” Dawson expands. “It brings the harbour into town.”

The largest component is underground, replacing services such as storm water, electrical distribution and communications. The pavers were laid directly onto 75mm or 150mm (pedestrian or trafficked areas respectively) reinforced concrete slabs. The narrow joints were filled with cement-stabilised sand.

Regular cleaning helps keep the area spruce. The paving is machine swept three times a week, and thoroughly cleaned twice yearly with a rotary scrubber and detergent. The pavers show no signs of cracking or edge chipping. Some street trees have infiltrated under the pavers but the section is simply lifted and the roots excised.

The paving provides the backdrop to a diverse series of artworks created in conjunction with local artists and students, including clay pavers inscribed with tidal mudflat patterns and a town map.

Pride of place in Bloomfield Street is given to the Poetry Walk, devised with much-loved indigenous poet Ooodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker). The Cleveland Art Walk blends superb design with durable, earthy materials and cultural sensitivity to acknowledge the area’s indigenous, environmental and social values.